diff --git a/command/agent/job_endpoint.go b/command/agent/job_endpoint.go
index d650ffef6..b7671b4ac 100644
--- a/command/agent/job_endpoint.go
+++ b/command/agent/job_endpoint.go
@@ -413,6 +413,7 @@ func (s *HTTPServer) jobUpdate(resp http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request,
 		EnforceIndex:   args.EnforceIndex,
 		JobModifyIndex: args.JobModifyIndex,
 		PolicyOverride: args.PolicyOverride,
+		PreserveCounts: args.PreserveCounts,
 		WriteRequest: structs.WriteRequest{
 			Region:    sJob.Region,
 			AuthToken: args.WriteRequest.SecretID,
diff --git a/nomad/job_endpoint_test.go b/nomad/job_endpoint_test.go
index d15f8aa67..8db4085c8 100644
--- a/nomad/job_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/nomad/job_endpoint_test.go
@@ -108,6 +108,67 @@ func TestJobEndpoint_Register(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestJobEndpoint_Register_PreserveCounts(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	require := require.New(t)
+
+	s1, cleanupS1 := TestServer(t, func(c *Config) {
+		c.NumSchedulers = 0 // Prevent automatic dequeue
+	})
+	defer cleanupS1()
+	codec := rpcClient(t, s1)
+	testutil.WaitForLeader(t, s1.RPC)
+
+	// Create the register request
+	job := mock.Job()
+	job.TaskGroups[0].Name = "group1"
+	job.TaskGroups[0].Count = 10
+	job.Canonicalize()
+
+	// Register the job
+	require.NoError(msgpackrpc.CallWithCodec(codec, "Job.Register", &structs.JobRegisterRequest{
+		Job: job,
+		WriteRequest: structs.WriteRequest{
+			Region:    "global",
+			Namespace: job.Namespace,
+		},
+	}, &structs.JobRegisterResponse{}))
+
+	// Check the job in the FSM state
+	state := s1.fsm.State()
+	out, err := state.JobByID(nil, job.Namespace, job.ID)
+	require.NoError(err)
+	require.NotNil(out)
+	require.Equal(10, out.TaskGroups[0].Count)
+
+	// New version:
+	// new "group2" with 2 instances
+	// "group1" goes from 10 -> 0 in the spec
+	job = job.Copy()
+	job.TaskGroups[0].Count = 0 // 10 -> 0 in the job spec
+	job.TaskGroups = append(job.TaskGroups, job.TaskGroups[0].Copy())
+	job.TaskGroups[1].Name = "group2"
+	job.TaskGroups[1].Count = 2
+
+	// Perform the update
+	require.NoError(msgpackrpc.CallWithCodec(codec, "Job.Register", &structs.JobRegisterRequest{
+		Job: job,
+		PreserveCounts: true,
+		WriteRequest: structs.WriteRequest{
+			Region:    "global",
+			Namespace: job.Namespace,
+		},
+	}, &structs.JobRegisterResponse{}))
+
+	// Check the job in the FSM state
+	out, err = state.JobByID(nil, job.Namespace, job.ID)
+	require.NoError(err)
+	require.NotNil(out)
+	require.Equal(10, out.TaskGroups[0].Count) // should not change
+	require.Equal(2, out.TaskGroups[1].Count) // should be as in job spec
+}
+
+
 func TestJobEndpoint_Register_Connect(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	require := require.New(t)
diff --git a/nomad/structs/structs.go b/nomad/structs/structs.go
index 922c4804d..4949f0fb6 100644
--- a/nomad/structs/structs.go
+++ b/nomad/structs/structs.go
@@ -549,6 +549,11 @@ type JobRegisterRequest struct {
 	EnforceIndex   bool
 	JobModifyIndex uint64
 
+	// PreserveCounts indicates that during job update, existing task group
+	// counts should be preserved, over those specified in the new job spec
+	// PreserveCounts is ignored for newly created jobs.
+	PreserveCounts bool
+
 	// PolicyOverride is set when the user is attempting to override any policies
 	PolicyOverride bool
 
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/api.go b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/api.go
index 83ccf6bd2..9633efb0e 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/api.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/api.go
@@ -943,7 +943,10 @@ func decodeBody(resp *http.Response, out interface{}) error {
 	}
 }
 
-// encodeBody is used to encode a request body
+// encodeBody prepares the reader to serve as the request body.
+//
+// Returns the `obj` input if it is a raw io.Reader object; otherwise
+// returns a reader of the json format of the passed argument.
 func encodeBody(obj interface{}) (io.Reader, error) {
 	if reader, ok := obj.(io.Reader); ok {
 		return reader, nil
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/jobs.go b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/jobs.go
index 578659511..6607717a1 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/jobs.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/jobs.go
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ type RegisterOptions struct {
 	EnforceIndex   bool
 	ModifyIndex    uint64
 	PolicyOverride bool
+	PreserveCounts bool
 }
 
 // Register is used to register a new job. It returns the ID
@@ -1041,9 +1042,10 @@ type JobRegisterRequest struct {
 	// If EnforceIndex is set then the job will only be registered if the passed
 	// JobModifyIndex matches the current Jobs index. If the index is zero, the
 	// register only occurs if the job is new.
-	EnforceIndex   bool
-	JobModifyIndex uint64
-	PolicyOverride bool
+	EnforceIndex   bool   `json:",omitempty"`
+	JobModifyIndex uint64 `json:",omitempty"`
+	PolicyOverride bool   `json:",omitempty"`
+	PreserveCounts bool   `json:",omitempty"`
 
 	WriteRequest
 }
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/scaling.go b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/scaling.go
index 1b3c3badf..3a31abd89 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/scaling.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api/scaling.go
@@ -92,11 +92,12 @@ type TaskGroupScaleStatus struct {
 }
 
 type ScalingEvent struct {
-	Count       *int64
-	Error       bool
-	Message     string
-	Meta        map[string]interface{}
-	EvalID      *string
-	Time        uint64
-	CreateIndex uint64
+	Count         *int64
+	PreviousCount int64
+	Error         bool
+	Message       string
+	Meta          map[string]interface{}
+	EvalID        *string
+	Time          uint64
+	CreateIndex   uint64
 }